A SERMON FOR TODAY. (August 14, 1904)

iH any among you , let him pray; Is any . let him -ing .-St. James, V., 13.

We AD have here a panacea, a recipe for

all distempers of and spirit, a maxim of universal application, V I g a. restraint alike upon undue grief

and unwise Joy. -

Ad Is any , let aim pray." Is no other remedy. Other things may soothe; prayer alone can heal, To think, to reason, to receive the sympathy of others-these things may quiet a little the outward pain, but only prayer can touch the seat of the disease. Prayer communes with God, it lifts thoe soul to God, It warms the cold heart and lights up tihe dark one, It solves doubts, it dispels mists, It reconciles to God.

But as there are many who, at times at least, are not conscious of any special trial, the apostle provides for them also: " Is any merry, let him sing psalms."

'eo may note in passing that tile apostle, amid his own life of toil and hardship, does not forget that some of lis felloW-men are merry, and we may note also that his lan- guage plainly implies that some men, under some conditions, have a right to lbe merry. Religion does not counsel perpetual gloom or sadness. It recognizes that Its subjects are differently constituted, and that eacs one of them has varying moods. It does not expect all to be alike, nor any to be the same1a at all times. It adapts itself to every char- acter and to every circumstance. It Is In- tended to moderate, to guide, to hallow not only grief but joy.

And so, acknowledging that gladness ats as sorrow has Its place, it tells those who are glad as well as those who are sor- what they ought to do. " Is any merry, let him Sing psalms." That is, let him pi-aise God. Let him direct his song of jubilee to the skies, leat , not being un- der-stood nor used, overwhelm his soul. Happiness Is affliction unless we keep God in view. Prosperity Is full of danger. Left to itself It elates one unduly. It makes him less strong to bear adversity when It comes in turn. It Is an injury and not an advantage unless with It and for it lie blesses God, and, In spirit at least, sings psalms. As prayer 19 the resource of the heavy heart- ed. so. In equal degree, should be of the light hearted. is it If In our sorrows we turn to God. But better yet would It be If, as readily as the pray, the merry would sing psalms.

The lesson before us is that prayer and praise are the corrective, the balance, the check which we all need upon our lives; that without them the experiences of this mortal state have an effect on us utterly dispro- portioned to their importance; that they alone bind us to God and unite our temporal Interests with 'those that are eter- nal. Depend upon It, disorders and disturb- ances of the mind, little or great, come from the want of worship; and a serene. can always be attained by commu- nion with God. Place all your Interests, then, in his care. Do well your work. use well your Influence, and then leave yourself and all you love with hin. Cultivate that nearness to him which fits one to bear his lot, to his t ask, to be content. In all time of your tribulation and In all time of your prosperity ask him to deliver you from the perils that lurk around you. Go to in gladness and in grief. Bring him alike your sorrow and your joy. 0. one, pray. 0, merry one, silo psalms.